Skakel Loses Appeal for a New Trial

Published: April 13, 2010

Michael C. Skakel, who was convicted in 2002 of having killed a 15-year-old Greenwich, Conn., neighbor in 1975, lost an appeal on Monday in which he had sought a new trial.

The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the 2007 decision of a trial judge that said new evidence developed with the help of Mr. Skakel's cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would not have changed the outcome of the trial.

The effort for a new trial was based largely on an account by a former classmate of Mr. Skakel's, Gitano Bryant, who said that two friends went to Greenwich with him the night of the killing and that he suspected they might have killed the 15-year-old, Martha Moxley.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the trial judge had reasonably questioned Mr. Bryant's credibility.

Mr. Skakel, now 49, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. His lawyers, Hubert J. Santos and Hope C. Seeley, said they would continue to pursue appeals on his behalf.